Menchie's Gets Approval for Outdoor Seating

customers will be able to enjoy fro-yos in the summer weather this year.

After previously being denied a variance for outdoor seating, the frozen yogurt shop will now be allowed to have three tables on the sidewalk in front of the SOM Center Road business.

There were tables there briefly when Menchie's opened last summer, but they were removed when owners were told city approval was needed. Steve Coven, real estate counsel for property owners F&S Enterprises, said Menchie's competitors Dairy Queen, and East Coast Custard all have outdoor seating.

"It's not a want, it's a need," he told Mayfield Heights City Council, which voted 6-1 to approve the variance.

"In my opinion, this location was just not designed for outdoor seating," said Councilman Joe Mercurio, who voted no.

Last fall, council had voted down the variance, citing safety concerns with having a seating area so close to parking spaces. To ease those concerns, parking bumpers were added, as well as bollards in front of each parking space.

However, Coven noted that at Sonic on Mayfield Road, there aren't any such barriers in place.

"There are open views from the parking lot directly on to the patio areas," he said.

The shopping plaza where Menchie's is will have a new tenant soon, as a Potbelly Sandwich Shop is in the works.